Page 27 of Poisoned Promise
“And now you’re here. Sitting in front of me, fifteen years later and very muchnotdead. Turns out, I absolutely was a fool.” I fail to keep the bitterness from my voice as I speak.
Dove groans. “I need a drink.”
“Do you still drink red?”
She finally lifts her gaze and nods. “Occasionally.”
“Good. Chef is cooking up a Bolognese. Still your favorite, correct?”
Again, Dove nods. “Not much has changed about my food tastes.”
“Hard to pass up on a good Bolognese.”
“I haven’t had one since…” She trails off as Toph melts out of the low light around us and places two glasses of red wine on the table, then vanishes. “So you own this place now?”
“Yes. Saved it from administration not long after you died. Maybe we were the only two keeping it in business.”
Dove picks up her glass and raises it to her lips.
When she drinks, she tilts her head back slightly and my eyes wander down the soft, long length of her throat.
Each bob as she swallows sends a subtle thrill through my chest.
Even now, I can distantly recall exactly what her neck felt like against my palm.
“I don’t want to drag this out,” she says as he drains half her glass and sets it down. “So let’s be frank.”
“At least spend the entirety of the meal here,” I say as the doors to the kitchen swing open and the mouthwatering scent of tomato and garlic pours out like a river. “You owe me at least that.”
Her eyes narrow. “I don’t owe you anything.”
Anger ignites in my chest and I tense my jaw. “I’ve spent the past fifteen years mourning you. You owe me.”
“You should have moved on.”
“Like you did?” A sharp scoff escapes me. “A new life. New man. A fucking kid.”
Dove flinches ever so slightly and her eyes narrow as the food is placed in front of us, then the chef scurries away back to the kitchen.
Steam rises between us, softening her glare as much as it softens the anger in my heart. Finally, she sighs.
“I didn’t die. Obviously. I went into hiding.”
So we’re jumping right into it? Fine.
Picking up my fork, I stab at my spaghetti. “Why?”
“Are you kidding me? My entire family was massacred, Felix. Did you expect me to wait around to be next? Just line myself up like a target? No.”
Even as I eat, I can’t take my eyes off her. I scarcely blink as if that half-second in darkness will make me miss something. “What happened?”
“That night?”
I nod. “No one knows the details. I want to know what happened.”
“No one knows?” Her eyes narrow and then dip to her plate. “It’s in the past. I don’t want to drag up something I can’t change.”
Irritation swells over my next bite but rather than push it, I accept her answer with a nod.
